Canada. Investment in primary care
Canada
Investment in primary careKeywordsGovernment, Primary care, Canada
In the autumn it was announced that the Government of Canada is investing funds to improve primary health-care services. The money, $13.6m to New Brunswick and $9.7m to Newfoundland and Labrador, will go to initiatives designed to ensure that residents have access to high-quality, affordable, and sustainable primary health-care services. The funding originates from the $800m Primary Health Care Transition Fund (PHCTF) which was established in September 2000, by the Government of Canada, to support the efforts of provinces and territories and other stakeholders to develop and implement transitional primary health-care reform initiatives as part of the overall renewal of Canada's health-care system. The PHCTF was also designed to enable recipients to address overarching primary health-care issues that are common nationally or across two or more jurisdictions.
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will use the funding to assist with planning, implementing and evaluating primary health-care projects in Newfoundland and Labrador. Expected outcomes of this initiative include:
increased interdisciplinary collaboration among primary health-care workers;
enhanced information technology;
improved patient access to health services;
the development of alternative funding models for physicians; and
enhanced understanding by health-care providers and consumers regarding the benefits of primary health care-renewal.
The Government of New Brunswick will use the majority of the funding to implement two key initiatives: establishing community health centres to provide a comprehensive range of primary health-care services based on the needs of the communities they serve; and enhancing the province's ambulance services, in relation to the Community Health Centres being established.
